Updated 10:49 pm, Friday, March 22, 2013

A mother Rothschild giraffe nuzzles with her newborn daughter after...

First time standing
/ Greenwich Time

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, walks under her mother after being born Friday, March 22, 2013, at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, Conn.
Photo: Contributed Photo

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, walks under her...

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, rests after being born Friday, March 22, 2013, at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, Conn.
Photo: Contributed Photo

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, rests after...

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, rests after being born Friday, March 22, 2013, at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, Conn.
Photo: Contributed Photo

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, rests after...

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, nurses from her mother after being born Friday, March 22, 2013, at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, Conn.
Photo: Contributed Photo

A newborn Rothschild giraffe, an endangered animal, nurses from her...

Petal, a 6-year-old Rothschild giraffe -- which are classified as endangered -- gave birth to a healthy female calf with a group of other giraffes and conservation center staff watching.

"She's a great mom," said Marcella Leone, founder and director of the center. "She was very proud, trying to show off her newborn."

Petal, now a second-time mother, has already bonded with her newborn, who looks like her, with a mix of dark patches broken up by bright cream channels.

Though center staff were on hand for the birth, Petal didn't need any help, Leone said.

"Mom did it on her own," she said.

Petal cleaned her calf with her 18-inch tongue, and within 30 minutes of the birth the calf was standing and nursing, Leone said.

"It's really astonishing how a huge animal like that ... how delicately and in such a nurturing way she approaches caring for her calf," she said.

The young animal is also very curious, approaching humans early on in its first day of life, she said.

Following an average 15-month gestation period -- Petal's gestation period fell right into the average -- mother giraffes give birth while standing.

When fully grown, the newborn, who will mingle with the herd of five giraffes -- two of which are pregnant -- could reach 18 feet in height, Leone said.

The calf is the first giraffe born at the off-exhibit conservation center and possibly the first in state history.

A contest to name her has been up on the center's website (leozoo.org/giraffe-baby-contest/). The person who guesses the closest to the actual day and time of birth will be invited to visit the newborn with their immediate family.

Rothschild giraffes are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, as there are fewer than 670 left in the wild in their indigenous Kenya and Uganda.

They were first named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, following an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.

Leone added that the birth is a noteworthy event for the center, and is an example of its goals coming to fruition.

"This is serving our mission," she said. "What we're doing is working. Being an off-exhibit facility, it means so much for the animals to live that low-impact life."

LEOZCC is a nonprofit, accredited conservation center and off-site breeding facility specializing in species at risk and conservation-based education programs. The mission of the Lionshare Educational Organization, which manages LEO Zoological Conservation Center, is to inspire conservation leadership by engaging people with wildlife and the natural world.

Though it is not a zoo, the center does offer opportunities for people to visit with the animals. Details are available at leozoo.org